Film Upstate New York

Proctors helps launch organization to attract more TV, film productions to the region

Goal: Attract and support 10 major film productions per year

What if the Capital Region were able to attract and support 10 major film productions per year?

Film Upstate New York posed that question in an early 2017 grant application. While media represents the largest sector of the regional creative economy with nearly 10,000 jobs in 2015, the film industry represents only a small segment of this total. Nonetheless, it offers significant opportunity for growth in the coming decade both in terms of supporting and developing the existing film community and attracting a greater number of films and filmmakers to the region.

Film Upstate New York meets regularly at WMHT in Troy. Proctors, a founding member, is one of more than 20 entities represented.

To that end, a number of organizations began coming together regularly to discuss how to attract more film, television and commercial production and leverage the important investments that have already been made. The diverse group includes government, non-profit, unions, economic development agencies and others. And among Film Upstate New York’s inaugural organizers in early 2016 was Proctors, represented by CEO Philip Morris and Agency Marketing Director Jim Murphy.

The Capital-Saratoga Region is already an attractive location for filmmakers, offering a diverse set of urban and rural locations, a talented group of local craft professionals, a supportive network of film commissions and, perhaps most importantly a robust set of state tax credits which were enhanced in late 2016 by the extension of the additional upstate 10 percent credit to the Capital District counties of Saratoga, Washington and Rensselaer.

It is estimated that the goal of 10 productions per year would add a total spend of approximately $10 million to the regional economy. To achieve that growth, the group has discerned the region needs to coordinate marketing and workforce development activities, and create a one-stop shop for filmmakers to access all of the location, personnel and equipment needs they might encounter in preparation for and while filming in the Capital-Saratoga region.

The group has an active Facebook group for networking and announcements, and the skeleton of a web site to which it plans to add a location database.